


Just say it

by ReclusiveRobin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25790314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReclusiveRobin/pseuds/ReclusiveRobin
Summary: What would have happened if Harry hadn't cast Sectumsempra that day?ORHermione and Pansy like playing matchmaker and Harry is a dense boy
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I usually don't write, at all. I've written a few tiny things in the past and I loved it, but I haven't been able to get any words down for years. I was re-watching the films and reading the books and also reading some fics and something just happened I guess. The very first sentence of this fic was stuck in my head for at least 2 days before I decided to just write it down. The rest followed quite easily. It's not much but I enjoyed writing it. I'm not sure if I'll write more, the writer's block might just return (I hope it doesn't!)  
> If anyone has any suggestions, I'd gladly take it into account, I could use some inspiration~

The words were on the tip of his tongue, threatening to escape his lips.

_Just say it!_

No...

_It's just one simple curse, you know you can do it!_

But he couldn't. This was Draco he was facing. Yes, he was a foul git and a spoiled brat, but he was also just a student like Harry was. Harry lowered his wand. Draco was still audibly panting on the other side of the bathroom stalls. Harry closed his eyes and could still see Draco's wide eyes, full of... fear? Harry couldn't possibly imagine what could have scared something like Draco this bad. Harry thought back to the care of magical creatures class back in year three. Right, Draco was actually a big wuss.

"Draco?" Harry called out. He heard Draco take in a sharp breath.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to fight. I don't want to hurt you!"

"Think you have it in you to actually land a spell? You're pathetic, Potter," Draco replied. That was a bad choice of words, Harry thought to himself. He had to be more careful with what he would say next.

  
"You're right," Harry started, "I'm actually more worried _you_ might land a spell on _me_." Harry let out a breathy laugh. He threw away his wand. This would either be a brilliant move, or the worst he'd ever made.

"Look, I'm unarmed. Please, can we just talk?" It went quiet for a moment. Harry anxiously waited for a reply, or any sign that Draco had heard him at all. He silently cursed himself for acting so impulsively, and for actually saying _please_ to Malfoy.

Then, footsteps. Draco turned the corner and was now facing Harry with an unsure look on his face. They stayed like that for a few seconds, each looking into the other's eyes. Greens looking at greys.

"Well, spit it out, then!" Draco said, but he didn't sounds as confident as he would have usually. Harry furrowed his brows. What _did_ he want to say?

"I, er, don't know..." Harry muttered, having found a sudden interest in his shoes.

"Come again?" Draco asked.

"I said, I don't know. I don't know what I want to say to you. I just-" Harry stopped and looked up at Draco. The boy had one eyebrow raised at him and the light coming through the murky windows made his hair glow ever so faintly. Draco didn't say anything, seemingly giving Harry more time to explain himself.

"Were you crying?" Harry blurted out. Draco's expression turned angry. Before he could say anything to Harry, he was interrupted.

"Sorry! Wrong question, my bad, that's none of my business." Draco's face softened slightly.

"You're damn right, that's none of your bloody business. Why are you here?"

"Why are _you_ here?" Harry countered. Draco looked down, his hands fidgeting with his wand.

"Crying," Draco mumbled. Harry almost didn't hear it. Almost.

"What?" Harry asked, even though he was quite sure he'd heard the other boy correctly.

"I'm not repeating myself, Potter, and if you tell _anyone_ I'll have your head!" Draco walked towards Harry, bumping into his shoulder to push Harry aside and get to the door. Harry didn't follow. He touched his shoulder where Draco had brushed past him, his skin feeling warm. Must be the sun, Harry thought, knowing full well he was standing in the shadows.


	2. Chapter 2

What was he thinking, showing weakness to Potter, of all people! Draco sat on his bed, head in his hands. He'd drawn his curtains and cast a charm, just in case Pansy had wanted to intrude like she usually did. He sighed as he let himself fall onto his bed. He wondered what Potter would be doing at this time. Why did Draco even care? He shouldn't.

*

"Oh, Harry, I knew you weren't that bright, but this is a new low! Gosh, throwing your wand away, what were you thinking?" Hermione was pacing in the common room, huffing at Harry and his, in her eyes, reckless actions. Everyone else had gone to bed already. Harry was glad no one else was around to witness Hermione's scolding.

"Hermione, I-" Harry tried.

"So irresponsible," she continued, "You know how dangerous Malfoy is. You should be glad you're even alive!"

"He didn't-"

"are you okay? What did he do to you?" she started to make her way towards Harry.

" _Hermione!_ Harry exclaimed, making her stop in her tracks.

"He didn't do anything!" Harry continued, "That's what I'm trying to tell you. He didn't hurt me, if that's what you were thinking." Harry was positive that's what she was thinking.

"He... what?" Hermione replied, confusion in her voice.

"Draco didn't jinx or curse me, Hermione. I'm okay. I'm _fine_." Harry tried to sound as casual as he could. Yes, _he_ was fine, but Draco didn't seem to be doing as well.

" _Draco_?" Hermione raised one of her eyebrows at him, "You're on a first name basis now?"

"That's what you got from everything I just told you? You don't care that I'm fine?" Harry replied, trying to somewhat change the subject, "And for your information, Draco isn't actually that bad if you get to know him," he said, his voice a little quieter.

"Harry, have you ever actually spoken to him?" she asked. Harry opened his mouth to give a clever response, but Hermione was quicker.

"An _actual_ conversation, Harry, without insults, lasting longer than a minute?" she said, knowing the answer already. Harry simply looked down.

"That's what I thought."

"I honestly do think he's not all that bad, though," he mumbled.

"Oh, Harry," she looked at him sympathetically.

"What?" he asked.

"I can't believe I'm about to ask you this," she sighed audibly. Harry furrowed his brows. Before he could ask, she continued.

"Do you have a thing for... Draco? And be honest with me." Harry's brows shot up. Any higher and they'd probably disappear into his unruly hair.

"I- erm... I- well... he-" Harry stumbled over his words. Eventually he gave up trying to form a coherent sentence. Hermione have him an understanding smile. A blush was starting to dust Harry's cheeks. Hermione closed the distance between them to put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I think you've got some things to think through. Why don't we talk more tomorrow?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and climbed up the stairs to go to the girls' dormitories. Harry couldn't move a muscle. There was just one word on his mind right now:

_Shit_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the (probably) last chapter of this short story! I didn't thoroughly read it through at the end, because I couldn't be bothered, so let me know if there are any grammatical/spelling mistakes or plot holes. Tysm!

The next morning, as the trio made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Hermione walked up to the Slytherins before sitting down next to Ron at the Gryffindor table.

"What was that about?" Ron asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just had to arrange something," Hermione replied.

"That's quite... cryptic," Ron said before stuffing his mouth full of some type of bread. Harry eyed Hermione suspiciously, but she actively ignored him.

"Making progress with your potions homework, yet?" Hermione asked Ron. His eyes darted around, looking at anything but Hermione's eyes. He mumbled something and a few crumbs fell out of his mouth. Hermione pulled a face.

"I'll take that as a no, then," she said.

*

After breakfast, they had a free period. Hermione had asked Harry and Ron if they would join her for some studying in the library. Not having anything better to do, Harry had agreed. After all, he was a bit behind on homework.

"You guys go on ahead, I need to grab some books first," Harry motioned for them to go ahead and went the opposite direction to the dormitories. He rummaged through his trunk and finally found his potions book underneath a few dirty pairs of pants. He should really clean it out some time. Yeah, not going to happen.

He quickly ran down the stairs and through the portrait hole to make his way to the library.

A few minutes later he arrived, a little out of breath. He looked around and couldn't immediately spot Hermione or Ron at any of the tables. It was relatively quiet at this hour. Harry supposed most students were in class at this time. Then, Harry spotted a glint of silver hair, very briefly, before it disappeared behind a bookshelf. Draco was here, too? Well, that wasn't that odd, he was always quite serious about his studies. Harry's thoughts were interrupted when he heard an 'oompf' sound coming from Draco's general direction. He cautiously walked towards the sound. Right as Harry emerged from the bookshelf and saw Draco, who was actually just sitting down at a table, he felt a push and was shoved onto the chair next to him. Bollocks. This had to be some prank, someone seemed to have put a sticking charm on their chairs. However, that didn't seem to be the only spell that had been cast on them. Harry couldn't speak.

 _You bastard, I bet this is all your fault, Malfoy. You probably pissed someone off and now we both have to pay for your stupid actions._ Was what Harry had wanted to say. He couldn't.

It seemed Draco had already figured out what had happened to him, as he was looking out the window, seemingly just bored. The morning light was spilling in through the windows, making Draco's hair glow.

"Your hair looks nice," Harry spoke suddenly. Draco's head whipped around, staring at Harry with wide, confused eyes. Harry probably had the same look on his face. He slapped a hand to his mouth, as if that would stop more embarrassing words from spilling out.

 _What did he just say? He_ was _thinking that, yes, but he didn't want to_ say _it. Especially not in front of Draco himself!_

Draco just nodded in acknowledgement.

They sat in silence for a few seconds. Harry trying to regain his composure while avoiding Draco's eyes.

Draco shifted in his seat, he opened his mouth as to say something, but bit his lip instead. Harry looked back at him expectantly.

"I like your eyes," Draco then said with a quiet voice Harry had never heard him use. He was a bit taken aback. Yes, people often pointed out his eyes and how they were pretty or looked like his mother's, but this felt... different. It might have been because Draco had said it, but Harry dismissed that thought. 

Harry looked out the window, mostly to avoid Draco's eyes which were still fixed on him. He thought back to all those days of playing Quidditch against Slytherin. He'd always been really impressed with Draco's skills, even if he didn't want to admit it.

"I think you're amazing at Quidditch."

He'd admitted it. He placed his arms on the table in front of them and rested his head on them. He was getting tired of this. He found the courage to turn his head and take a peak at Draco, who was still looking at him, but was covering his mouth with his hand. He was probably trying not to laugh and get kicked out of the library. Harry frowned. He wasn't sure what Draco was thinking right now, but he was probably dying to get out of this situation.

"I still hate the fact that you rejected me back in our first year," Draco confessed. Harry remembered their exchange before their sorting. He turned the offer of friendship down and quite possibly embarrassed Draco in front of his friends.

"I'm sorry," was all that Harry could offer in return. Sure, he hated Draco the bully in their first few years, but now Harry felt like he knew the boy a bit better, understood him more, and was actually very concerned about him. Harry was the first to suspect Draco had got the Dark Mark over the summer and was very adamant about his investigation. To be fair, he was mostly just starting to like Draco more and more, but he brushed it off when his obsession was mentioned and called it 'suspicion'. Draco still wasn't breaking eye-contact and his expression softened. His head rested on his hand, elbow resting casually on the table. It was like he knew what Harry was thinking, knew about his internal struggle, and maybe even knew about Harry's little fascination.

"Just say it, Harry," Draco said softly. Harry had quite possibly stopped breathing right there. He'd used his name, his actual name, and it sounded so good coming from his lips. He blinked a couple of times. Draco's eyes were burning into his. This was it. Harry was really about to say it. He'd been thinking about it for longer than he'd like to admit. Just like he'd been thinking about a certain silver-haired boy. Harry let out the breath he'd been holding and took a few fresh breaths of air, gathering up his Gryffindor courage.

"I-" he started. Shit, this was harder than he thought. He just had to do it quickly, like ripping off a bandage.

"IthinkIreallylikeyou," he mumbled.

"Come again," Draco said. It didn't even sound like a question rather than just a flat out order, he probably wanted Harry to say it more just to inflate his ego. Harry frowned.

"You know what I said," he crossed his arms, a blush was starting to heat up his cheeks. Draco smiled, actually smiled at Harry.

"I think I really like you too, Harry," was Draco's reply. Now Harry was completely sure he stopped breathing and might as well be declared brain dead. Draco did _what?_ There was no way. Draco seemed to notice Harry's dumbfounded reaction.

"You really are dense, Potter," Draco huffed, shaking his head.

"Excuse me, _Malfoy_ , you weren't exactly very obvious. You haven't stopped insulting me, you still look at me with that... that _look_ on your face. How was I supposed to know you... _fancied_ me?" Harry said accusingly, feeling a bit flustered at saying the f-word.

"I haven't insulted you personally in months!" Draco tried to defend himself.

"That's your way of showing affection? Honestly... And you called me pathetic only yesterday! That's got to be a personal insult," Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. What did he see in this ferret?

_Well, he is very fit, his eyes are incredible, his hair glows like silver in the sunlight, and it framed his face so well, and he was so talented, and-_

Harry sighed, deciding he couldn't deny it. He was a lost cause! Hopeless, really.

"No, that was just a fact," Draco smirked. Harry almost dared say he looked like he was challenging him.

"I'm not doing this, Draco. I'm honestly kind of done fighting with you..." Harry replied. Draco wiped the smirk off his face, his brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to say something, but Harry quickly added: "Wuss."

"What did you say? Oh, you will take that back!" Draco demanded, trying to sound like he was offended. He leaned closer to Harry and grabbed him by his robes.

"Take it back!"

Harry pressed his lips together and shook his head.

"Take. It. Back. Right now!" Draco tightened his grip.

Harry shook his head with more force. Draco scowled, almost convincing Harry he was mad.

"You will regret saying that!"

Harry stuck out his tongue, trying to get more of a reaction out of Draco. That worked wonders.

"You are so childish! And I am _not_ a wuss. I dare say I've got more courage than you Gryffindor lot, I just happen to be smart enough to have been put in Slytherin," Draco said matter-of-factly, "so take it back, right now, or else!"

Harry couldn't help it any more, he broke into a smile. Draco nearly lost his composure, Harry saw his brows twitch, but didn't break. Then Harry started laughing.

"You... are such... a bad actor," Harry tried to speak between fits of laughter. Draco continued to stare at Harry, but his expression turned soft and he let go of Harry's robes. His hands moved up a bit, resting them on Harry's shoulders. The laughter had died down. It was awfully quiet. Harry's eyes were still glistening with tears of joy. They didn't break eye-contact. Harry could've sworn he actually saw the corners of Draco's mouth turn up a bit. Harry felt Draco's breath on his lips and his own breathing hitched. When did they get so close? Was Draco aware of what he was doing? Harry was painfully aware of Draco's hands on his shoulders. It felt so _right_. Draco was the one to break their eye-contact, but it was only to swiftly flicker his eyes to Harry's lips before looking up again again.

_What?_

This couldn't possibly be happening right now. Harry swallowed. A weird but not entirely unpleasant feeling was swirling around in his stomach. Draco licked his lips.

"Oh, to hell with it," Draco mumbled.

"To hell with wh-" but before Harry could finish his sentence, Draco moved his hands up to hold Harry's head between his hands and closed the, already small, distance between them, kissing Harry softly. Harry's eyes widened, he wasn't looking at the grey piercing eyes anymore. They were closed, showing off the pretty blond eyelashes instead. Harry quickly realised what was happening, closing his eyes. He felt Draco move back, but he swiftly moved his hands to Draco's waist, pulling him closer again and kissing him back with a bit more force. Draco let out a small gasp. Harry took this opportunity to slip his tongue into Draco's mouth. They explored each other's mouths and Harry couldn't help letting out a soft moan. Embarrassed, he moved back and covered his mouth with his hand. His cheeks were flushed, his lips still wet. Draco looked at him fondly and leaned in to give Harry a soft peck on one of his rosy cheeks. Before Harry could react, he heard shuffling behind him. Draco was looking past Harry at something, or rather, some _one_. Harry turned around. Oh, god.

 _"Hermione?" "Pansy?"_ Harry and Draco asked in unison. Hermione chuckled and exchanged a knowing look with Pansy, who was standing next to her. Had they been watching? Harry's cheeks were burning at this point. Draco didn't seem all that bothered.

"What are you doing here? And why is _she_ with you?" Harry asked, pointing a finger at Pansy.

"Honestly, Harry, if you'd joined me in the library to study more often, you would know that Pansy and I are actually friends now. We've been studying together for quite a while now," she replied, smiling at Pansy.

"As for the reason why we're here at all, we, er, kind of planned this," she admitted.

"You _planned_ this?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Remember I walked up to the Slytherin table to _arrange_ something? This was it. We wanted to try a new charm and you were great guinea pigs. It prevents you from saying mean things and you could only break it by confessing your true feelings. Honestly Harry, you guys just needed a little push, wouldn't you agree? Pansy knew about the situation from Draco's side, so we were quite sure the feelings were mutual." Harry still couldn't quite believe what she was saying. They were actually playing matchmaker, for him and Draco?

"Well, I guess I can't really say I'm not grateful," Harry admitted, quickly flashing Draco a smile, "but don't ever do something like this again!" Hermione laughed at that.

"Yes, I was hoping this would be the first and last time of playing matchmaker. Well, I guess we should leave you guys to it," she said, winking at them.

"Use protection!" Pansy added, before grabbing Hermione's hand and leaving the library. That last comment seemed to make Draco flush even brighter than Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading <3
> 
> I just went with whatever came to mind here. It might feel a bit rushed, but I just had an idea and I needed to get it out before it vanished. I tried to write as much (inner) dialogue to fill up the space and to make the pacing feel more natural, but I'm not sure I really made it work. Nevertheless I really enjoyed writing this and turned out really cute :)
> 
> I'm not sure if there's going to be another chapter after this one. It might be fun to write an extra chapter from Draco's perspective (because those are really lacking in general) but we'll see!


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